With a pop, he unhooked her bra, and didn’t bother with the seduction of teasing it from her body. He cupped her breasts, molding them in his hands, his mouth seeking one of her deep pink, firm nipples. The gasp that came from her when he flicked his tongue against her tight skin was music to his ears.
She kicked off one of her shoes and then the other and stepped out of her panties.
Her beautiful bare curves heightened his awareness of how badly his body was driven to claim hers. There was no way he’d make it to the bedroom. He sat on the couch next to them, half reclining, and reached out his hand. “Come here. I need you.”
She smiled and cocked an eyebrow, taking his hand. “Are you that impatient?”
“Yes. And we have all night.” The breath caught in his chest as he watched her carefully set her knee next to his hip and straddle him. The sky outside was quickly falling into darkness, but the light was just bright enough to show off the dips and hollows of her delicate collarbone. He traced his finger along the contours. “Calling you this morning was the best thing I’ve done in a long time.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” She smiled, dropping her head to kiss him. Her silky hair brushed the sides of his face. He was almost sorry he didn’t have the visual of the moment she took him in her hand, guided him inside, and began to sink down around him. A deep groan escaped his throat as her body molded around him, warm and inviting. He wanted to be nowhere else.
She settled her weight on his and they moved together in a dance he never wanted to end. It buoyed his senses, made him appreciate her beauty and essential nature even more than before. She rocked her hips into his, over and over again, as they kissed and his hands grasped the velvety skin of her perfect bottom. Her breaths quickened and before he knew what was happening, she was gathering around him in steady pulses. She sat back, their eyes connecting for an instant before she gave in to the sensation, closing her eyes and knocking her head back. He closed his own eyes and the relief shuddered out of him, each passing wave invisibly bringing them closer.
* * *
Anna collapsed back on the bed, her chest heaving with fast and heavy breaths. Jacob clutched her hand, struggling just as much for air. She glanced over at the clock. It was after midnight. They hadn’t stopped for much more than a snack and a glass of champagne since she’d arrived a little after five. How much stamina could one man have? Was he trying to prove a point? Because he had. And then some.
She was spent. Wonderfully, gloriously spent. It struck her as a summertime kind of exhaustion, the kind she’d experienced as a kid, up at the Langford family beach house. After swimming all day, sun-soaked, stomach sore from laughing too hard, you were absolutely starving. You would take your first bite of food at dinner and be sure that nothing had ever tasted so good.
That was Jacob. Nothing had felt so good before him.
“Can I just take the chance now to apologize for what happened that first time we kissed?” he asked. “It’s pretty clear that was the wrong decision.”
She rolled to her side, smiling, despite the unpleasant nature of the topic he’d just chosen to introduce. “You don’t have to pretend that you wished things had ended differently. It’s okay. I’m a big girl. Plus, you made up for it tonight.”
“Don’t you think I regret it? What exactly did I turn you down for? A friendship that would ultimately turn into the worst thing in my entire life.”
Had she gone through years of pain over the wrong decision? She didn’t want to believe that. It would be more comforting to go with the theory that everything happens for a reason. “As much as it hurt to have you say no, I have to admire the reason you did it, even if it didn’t turn out the way you would’ve liked.”
He stared up at the ceiling, seeming immersed in thought. Was his rift with Adam something deeper than warring over a business decision? She’d always assumed that Jacob’s side of things was about the embarrassment of being publicly shut out of his first major business deal, about losing his cut of a big payday. Was there something else?
“I’m a loyal person, Anna. You have to understand that. If I let someone into my life, they’re there for a reason. I don’t do it lightly.”
And there was her answer. “So it’s not just about business. It’s about losing the friendship, too.”
He was quiet again, but she didn’t want to interrupt whatever was running through his head. The intensity of his reservation was one of the things that had first drawn her to him. She bristled with curiosity, wondering what exactly his brilliant mind was choosing to ruminate over. She placed her hand on his stomach—he tensed at first touch, but just as quickly she felt his muscles give in to her. He grasped her hand and raised it to his mouth, kissing her fingers tenderly.